5 Women Who Applied For Dual Citizenship In The EU

5 Women Tell Us Why They Are Applying For Dual Citizenship After Brexit

Thanks to Brexit, the UK is becoming a nation of dual citizens. The number of British people who applied for a passport from another EU country in 2017 more than doubled compared to the previous year (from 6,555 to 14,911), according to the latest figures from Eurostat. With still little clarity of what Brexit will look like, it's no wonder that thousands of people are tracking their family trees – and queuing for new passports – with the aim of securing themselves freedom of movement (and more) within the European Union.

Germany is reportedly the most popular country on everyone's list, accounting for nearly half of all Britons applying for dual citizenship, followed by France, the Netherlands and Belgium, while having an Irish-born grandparent has similarly become very handy for those who wish to retain their European status post-Brexit. (Last month, the passport division of the Irish embassy in London warned it was "stretched and working under pressure" due to a pre-Brexit surge in applications.)

Some EU countries make it particularly easy to acquire dual citizenship (like Ireland with its grandparent rule), while it's more complex in others (if you are married to an Austrian national, for instance, you can only acquire citizenship status after five years of marriage and six years spent living in the country). Ahead, five British women explain exactly why they've gone to some lengths to hang on to an EU passport.